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Gabriel had expected the basement to be stuffy, but he couldn't really tell now that he was collared- again. The cold burned through his veins, and he tried and failed to repress the violent shivers as he huddled in a fenced off corner with Castiel.

But really, through the need to see Sam and the frigid cold of the rusty collar, he could at least be glad that they only put on one. Gabriel shook, from the cold and the fear, but also from the last tendrils of grace that weren't snuffed out. There was a hope. Even if it still felt just as hopeless as it had when the memories first flooded back.

He was cold, but Cas was blue lipped, and his eyelids fluttered absently as he dealed with the new, laborious pressure to breathe. His wings were cradled tightly to his back as he tried protect himself from the cold and the dark, and Gabriel's heart broke a little bit more.

Flicking the exhausted blue eyes over to meet his teary golden ones, Gabriel knew that he was trying to look like he was dealing. Castiel straightened up a little, flared his flight feathers in a tired little display that he pretended didn't sap any of what little energy he had left. With a hand that shook and was clammy with sweat, his little brother reached out and took his wrist in his hand. It was a slow, peaceful gesture that clutched at Gabriel's heart, and Cas tugged him into his arms with barely any weight. His wings were indigo and heathered charcoal, and beautiful in the dim moonlight that shone weakly into their dank corner. The wings flared and fluttered with what felt like all the energy Cas could manage, and wrapped themselves around the two of them. Gabriel's entire body clenched with unshed tears at the selfless gesture.

He needed Sam. He needed to be safe and have time to heal. Gabriel was terrified, and he ached all over. But mostly, he was just ashamed.

If Cas had stayed with the Winchesters, if they had never brought him home, and he never dragged them into this mess, Cas would've had a better chance of staying safe. This should have never happened, and it was all his fault.

Half subconsciously, Gabe reached out a shaking hand, taking hold of his baby brother's dirty old trenchcoat, and pulling him close. It was a little corner, and the chain-link dug into his wings as he arched them up and knit them together with Cas. With their shared body heat, Cas was able to stay a bit more awake. Gabriel felt like he was seeing his brother for the first time in millennia.

He was tired. He looked like he had staggered his way in front of an eighteen wheeler and lost a battle with the asphalt. His eyes were deep, bloodshot cerulean and blood oozed and dripped as the collar bit into his neck. The sight ached in Gabriel's chest, and he tentatively placed a hand on him, cupping his brother's cheek like Sam did to him when he couldn't sleep, and stroked his thumb back and forth over the dark stubble. The skin was once soft and smooth, but now Gabe's hand scratched soothingly across it with a sound like sandpaper. Cas's cheek twitched against the touch before relaxing into the coolness of his brothers palm. Gabe grinned with painful recognition for a minute- old habits must really die hard, because his baby brother had been doing that since he was a fledgling.

The angels in heaven- before Lucifer's fall, the first civil war, the birth of Jesus, and long before the birth of the Winchester lineage- formed a hierarchy of family units through the garrisons. Each archangel was charged with a garrison of fledglings as they were created by God, and that archangel would become the "commander" of that "regime" as Michael put it. But Gabriel knew it for what it was, and he adored every little pair of wings with which he was charged.

He was Mama Duck, and his little garrisons trailed and waddled and fluttered along behind him like little ducklings. He cared for them, taught them the ways and lessons of their Father, taught them to fly, and use their grace. They would stay with him until they started to fly, and then they would file off into the ranks of heaven as Seraphs.

Castiel was in Gabriel's last garrison before he fled heaven. Heaven was in chaos and thrown by the cycles of grief. Lucifer had been cast down, and the uprisings of like minded angels from his past garrisons were rebelling. Open violence was becoming common, and God was... Gone out.

They were abandoned, and there was panic.

That garrison was a safe haven for the archangel. The most peaceful, kind hearted little fledglings that liked to practice and play in Joshua's gardens. Lailah, Inias, hael... And little Castiel. Sheltering them from the combat of their brothers was an endeavor he knew he could never win, but Gabriel would hide with them in the gardens for hours. His best memories of heaven were in Joshua's gardens, and in that moment, curling his wings around a grown fledgling that he failed to protect, Gabriel felt love again. Cold, fearful, aching love that made the stagnant air and cold cement floors seem less claustrophobic.

It wasn't love like what he had with Sam. Sam was something entirely new and different and hopelessly perfect. But Cas was a deep, platonic affection that bordered on a mother's love for her child.

So they sat there, cradling each other in the dense blackness of the cellar, with a barely there moon blinking through the trees and shaking with fear and cold. Gabriel jumped at small noises, and Cas would squeeze his arm gently. He appreciated it- as much as Gabriel was sick of being a child to coddle- and he knew he still needed that reassurance. Gabriel protected Castiel from the horrors of war for as long as he could, and now his baby brother seemed to be returning the favor. In the shelter of mottled charcoal wings and a seriously battered trenchcoat, Gabriel let himself relax into the knowledge that Cas was going to protect him from what happened. It wasn't long ago- not nearly as long as it felt- but he was glad to let the fear of being sold back in by Rick, after coming so damn far, dissipate under Cas's touch.

It must've been hours before the door crashed open and Gabriel was ripped from his blissful little world.

Sharp, artificial light blazed into the cellar and- before he even thought about it- flared his wings protectively in front of Castiel. The menacing silhouetted men carrying the light chuckled quietly, and a helpless bubble of anger almost succeeded in warming the archangel's frigid cheeks. They were mocking them.

"Now, now, my feathery friend-" drifted a chilling voice "we've got someone very eager to see you."

It sounded like Grayson, cooing at him while he pulled against his bonds at the headboard- calm down, Birdie... Relax and it won't hurt.... He shuddered violently, not even able to breathe in that instant. Castiel laid a hand gently on the hand he could reach. The movement was sluggish, and his little brother's hand was freezing- they didn't have much time.

One collar was killing Cas the way the other bonds had frozen Gabe. Only they were working faster.